Picket fence construction



Feb. '5, 1952 w. G. FUNCK PICKET FENCE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 16, 1949 Del l/vvnvroe WILLIAM G. Fu-c| Patented Feb. 5, 1952 UNITED STATES I 2,584,690 7 Homer FENCE CONSTRUCTION j William GQ Funck, Florissant, Me. Application November 16, 1949, Serial No. 127,595 6 claims.v (Cl. 256-24) 1 This invention relates to picket. fences and more especially to those made in sections or panels so as to be'portable, and has among the objects of invention to make such a fence extremely simple and convenient to set up, which will be strong and long-lasting in,service,easy to align to conform to the ground contour along which the fence extends, and which can be'made and assembled on the job at a minimum of cost.

One of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a simple, strong and satisfactory connecting means whereby the adjacent .fence panels may be. secured to adjoin one another,

to hold said, panels tightly in place with little or no likelihood of them becoming accidentally. displaced or wobbly.-

Many other objects and advantages of theconstruction herein shown and described; will be obvious to those skilled in the art vto which thisinvention appertains, as will be more clearly apparent from the disclosures hereintgiven.

To this end, my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described, and the uses mentioned, aswill be more'clearly set out in the claims hereunto appended. p

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters represent like or corresponding parts throughout the views, I

Figure l is a front elevation of two adjoined fence panels constructed accordingtoimy in---' vention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view ofsaid panels, ready to be adjoined;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the metal connector members;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the adjustable clamping collars; and V Figure 5 is an enlarged transverse cross-sectional detail, taken substantiallyalong the line 5-5 of Fig. 1. 1 V

Referring more particularly tothe drawings, wherein I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, there isshown a portion along the length of a wooden picket fences'aid fence preferably being made up of a plurality of sections or panels of a size that is quite conveniently handled at every stage of operation,

say aboutv six or eight feet'inlength and of the desiredheight, such a length having the additional desirable featureof enabling the use of relatively short lengths of lumber in its man-.

ufacture.

:Two such panels I, -I are-indicated, ittis to-beunderstood that as many panel'srarei 2 to be used as is necessary to fence in the ground area in question, the manner of erection being simply that any two adjacent panels are connected together in the same manner .as the two shown herein;

Each of said panels is provided with the top and bottom stringers or rails 2 and 3, respectively, extending substantially horizontally and in parallel spaced relation, there being pickets 4 extending vertically through said rails and projecting upwardly beyond the top rail and downwardly beyond the bottom rail.

Although these pickets are preferably spaced apart at regular intervals, and in parallel retance from each terminal end 5 of a rail to the adjacently nearest picket on said rail is approximately equal to the regular spacing interval between the pickets. V

At each of the terminal ends 5 of the rails there is formed a vertical groove or cut 6, that is intended to align or register and mate with the like groove of the adjacent rail, so that when a pair of such rails are brought together by placing a pair of the fence panels into juxtaposed relation, the aligned pairs of grooves will provide a substantially continuous single vertical opening through such aligned rail ends, and so that the fence will appear, in its erected form,

as being with regular and uniform spacing of the uprights or pickets and the supporting posts, as will be seen from the drawings; and as will be more clearly understood from the details of construction that follow.

A supporting post 1, of substantially the same cross-sectional shape as that ofthe pickets, is interposed between each pair of fence panels that are to be adjoined, these posts preferably being of metal and hollow, it being understood that the grooves 6' are formed to such size and shape as to together receive a post therebetw'een, as shown,

This post is of such length that its lower end may be suitably anchored to the ground, as by driving it thereinto, or otherwise, andextends vertically upwardly so as to pass successively through the openings at the ends of the pairs of rails of the adjacent panels that are to be adjoined.

Connecting members 8 are provided to join the top and bottom rails of the pair of adjacent panels tosaid upright posts 7, each said mem- ATENT- OFFICE ga e, so that said member may be snugl fitted against one face and the contiguous sides of the rail or rails, as indicated.

These connecting members are preferably made of a metal stamping, and having a chan-.

width of the rail, so that when such a connecting member is pressed down against said rail or rails, the free ends will straddle the latter and will be yieldably sprung apart until they have passed the maximum rail width, at which time they will then snap back or retrieve to contracted position. Obviously, the legs will then forcibly engage the sides of the rail or rails and it will take considerable effortto pry the connection off the same.

An opening II is made centrally through each connecting member, of a size to easily and slidably receive said post I, and openings l2l2 are provided to either end of said member, the spacing between either end opening and said central opening being substantially the same as that between the centers of the terminal grooves and the adjacent picket in its rail, so that as shown in Fig. 1, when the connecting member is mounted on the post, the end openings will receive the respective end pickets of the connected pair of rails. If the spacing of said openings H and I2 are made accurately, the connecting member will hold the adjacent panels tightly together at said connection.

In order to lock said connecting members more permanently in position, a locking ring or collar l3 may be used, the same being of metal and having the opening l4 therethrough to slidably receive the post, and having a set screw or other fastening means l5 for afiixing the collar to the post at adjusted position.

Obviously, each pair of adjacent rails must be connected together with one of these connecting members 8 and a collar [3, so that two such sets must be used to take care of the upper and lower connections shown in the embodiment in Fig. 1.

It might be mentioned at this point that in the erection of such a fence, the post is anchored to the ground at the predetermined point, and the lowermost collar and the connecting member loosely slid thereon. The fence panels are then brought together so that the lower ends of the adjacent end pickets extend downwardly through said connecting member and the post extends upwardly through the registered terminal end grooves of the adjacent rails whereupon the lower connecting member is pressed upwardly against the pair of bottom rails at the predetermined height off the ground, and then the post collar is locked at that height.

Similarly, the top connecting member is lowered onto asid post and onto the pair of end pickets of the adjoined top pair of rails, the connect-. ing member pressed down as far as to bring it snugly and tightly against the pair of top rails, and then the top collar slid onto the post to rest tightly against said connecting member, at which point it is locked in place.

A fence so constructed wfll be firm andrigidf with little or no tendency to wobble or become displaced out of line, as the accuracy of fit between the connecting members and the pickets and rails is extremely strong and long-lasting.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from'the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form, arrangement, construction and combination of parts herein shown and described, or uses mentioned, except as limited by the state of the art to which this invention appertains, and by the claims hereto appended.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a fence, the combination with a pair of adjacent fence panels each including a horizontal rail and pickets extending vertically therethrough, the opposed terminal ends of said adjacent rails having registering-vertical grooves therethrough, a vertical post adapted to be supported at the ground and extend upwardly through said pair of opposed grooves and project beyond said rail, a channel member superimposed on said rail ends to overlie one face and the sides thereof and provided with spaced apart openings to receive said post and the end picket of each of said panels therethrough, and means associated with said channel member to hold the latter relatively of said post.

2. In a fence, the combination with an adjoined pair of fence panels each including a top and a bottom horizontal rail, spaced apart pickets interconnecting said rails and projecting upwardly and downwardly beyond the latter, the opposed terminal ends of said rails having a vertical groove therethrough, a vertical supporting post extending through said rails at said grooves and projecting upwardly beyond said top rails, a channel member superimposed on each pair of .opposed rails and provided with a central opening to receive said post and with a pair of end openings each to receive a picket therethrough, and means slidably adjustable on said post for looking a channel member in place on the latter.

3. In a fence, the combination with a pair of adjacent fence panels to be adj oined and each including a horizontal rail and horizontally spaced apart pickets extending vertically through said rail, the adjacent terminal ends of said pair of I rails projecting horizontally beyond the end picket a distance approximately equal to the spacing between adjacent pickets and provided with aligned vertical grooves at said terminal ends, a post adapted to have its lower end anchored at the ground as a fence support and extended upwardly through said aligned grooves, a channel member for snug superimposement on one faceand pair'of sides of said adjacent rails and provided with a central opening to receive said post and with end openings to receive said end pickets of said adjacent rails, and a collar slidably adjustable on said post for fas-v tening thereto to press said channel member against said pair of rails.

4. Ina fence, the combination'with a pair of adjacent fence panels each having an upper and a lower rail interconnected by horizontally spaced apart pickets projecting beyond said rails, the end pickets spaced inwardly from the adjacent raillend, vertical grooves insaid rail-ends, an

anchoring post extending vertically through the upper and lower pairs of end' grooves, 'a channel member of approximately the samecontour-0t said rails to be superimposed on the under side of the pair of bottom rails, a similar second channel member superimposed on the upper side of the pair of top rails, each of said channel members provided with a central opening to receive said post and with end openings to receive said pickets, and means slidably adjustable on said post for engagement with said channel members to lock them on said post.

5. In a fence construction, the combination with a pair of adjacent fence panels each including a horizontal rail and longitudinally spaced apart pickets extended vertically through said rail. the opposed terminal ends of said pair of rails having vertical grooves therethrough to form a single vertical opening when said rails are in alignment, a vertical post extended upwardly through said aligned grooves to project beyond said rails, and a channel member for interconnecting said rails and comprising a web portion to be superimposed on one face of said rails and having a pair of opposed resilient legs whose terminal edges are closer together than the maximum width of said rails, to snap past said maximum width portion when pressed to straddle said rails.

6. In a fence construction, the combination with a pair of adjacent fence panels each including a horizontal rail and longitudinally spaced pickets extending vertically through said rails, a vertical groove at the terminal end of each opposed rail to form a single opening when the rails are in horizontal alignment, a post extended vertically through said single opening thus formed and projecting beyond said rails, and a channel member for interconnecting said pair of rails and comprising a web portion of substantially the width across a face of said rails and a'pair of opposed legs whose terminal edges are directed inwardly toward one another, the height of said legs being greater than one-half the thickness of said rails, so that when said member is pressed against said pair of aligned rails the legs will straddle the sides of the same and snap past the plane of maximum width of the latter and then retract to contracted position against the sides of the rails and engage the latter for more than one-half the thickness of said rails.

WILLIAM G. FUNCK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 94,824 Hill Sept. 14, 1869 116,989 Pearson July 11, 1871 

